Basketballs and Smashed Heads
by ReneyyySprouse
Summary: When a new bully starts at the boy's school and chooses Cody as his main target, Cody must decide whether to risk his neck by telling Zack about what is happening to him or not. Rated T for my kick ass fight towards the end, and coz I just said ass :P
1. Rude Awakenings

**My first Zack and Cody fic *claps* !!**

**I don't own Zack or Cody, or Dylan and Cole for that matter (coz if I did none of you guys would ever see them again LOL).**

**But I DO own Riley the bully. So there :P**

**R&R. Good job (Y)**

* * *

"Zack wake up!"

Zack jumped at the sound of Cody's voice and cringed as his twin pulled open the blinds, letting the early morning sun stream into their bedroom.

"Ugh, it can't be seven already can it?" Came a barely understandable complaint from Zack.

"Actually, it's almost seven thirty." Cody replied. "You slept in. Again"

"Oh. Well do you wana' give me another ten minutes or so?"

"Zack!"

"Shh Cody." He said sarcastically. "It' sleepy time."

Cody rolled his eyes at Zack's smart aleck attitude. But luckily for him, there was always one way of getting his lazy older brother out of bed. He sighed and then leapt right towards Zack, particularly his ticklish spots. Zack yelped with laughter as the unmerciful attack began.

"Remember Zack, you made me do this."

"Ok, ok!" Zack managed to get out through all the screams and tears of laughter rolling down his face. "I'm up!" Then, gathering all the strength he possibly could, he pushed Cody off the bed, looked down at him and began laughing again.

"You are _such_ a dork!" He said, wiping the tears from his eyes and throwing a pillow at Cody.

"Well if you don't get ready in about five minutes, you're the one who's going to look like a dork when you're at school in your pyjamas." He retorted, chucking the pillow back. "So move it."

"_So move it." _Zack said mockingly as Cody made his way to the door of their bedroom. He turned around and glared at Zack, trying to remain stern faced. But of course, it didn't work. They grinned at each other, which they always seemed to be doing nowadays, before Cody placed his hand on the door knob and twisted it, opening the door.

"I'll be waiting in the lobby."

The moment Cody left the room, Zack hastily set about getting ready for school. School; one thing that Zack hadn't exactly been worrying about lately. Spring break had come to a close last week which sucked, but apart from that everything was actually enjoyable for once. After blitzing Summer school, he was finding English class a lot easier. He was also improving heaps with his basketball, being the team's star free thrower and all, and he was making heaps of new friends in the process too. Things had changed. Well, most things anyway.

"Forgot my text book." Cody announced as he raced back into the room, grabbed his book, and then left again.

Zack couldn't help but smile at Cody. He always had to make sure he was so organised with everything. It made Zack think that Cody would go completely insane if he were to lose his packet of paper clips or something. Kind of annoying, but one of those weird little qualities that made Cody who he was. That was one of those things that hadn't changed. Not only Cody's neat and tidy personality, but his relationship with Zack. The two of them always thought it was strange that people said they'd end up growing apart. Sure they were 15 now and they weren't living out of each other's pockets like they did when they were 12, but they were still as close as ever. And that was just the way Zack liked it.

"Zack!" Came a call from the living room, snapping him out of his train of thought. "Hurry up honey! You'll miss the bus!"

"Coming Mum!" Zack yelled back while picking up his bag (which happened to be half empty mind you), and made his way to through the door to the living room.

"Morning sweetie."

"Morning Mum."

"Have a good day at school. Love you!"

"Love you too."

The typical routine; Zack stumbled out of the suite saying a quick hi to Carey before racing down to the lobby to meet Cody at the bus stop. Cody on the other hand would always make sure to eat a well balanced breakfast and double check all of his homework was done, way before Zack even thought about getting up. No wonder he was the one who had always excelled in his school work.

Zack started to speed up as he hurriedly headed towards the bus stop just down the road from the Tipton.

"Your lucky the bus is late this morning." Cody stated upon Zack's arrival.

"You know me Codester, I haven't missed the bus once…"

"This week?"

Zack shot a death stare at Cody's interruption. "I was getting to that part!"

"Suuure you were."

Cody let this last bit of sarcasm slide out as the bus rolled up next to the twins and came to a slow stop. Zack climbed aboard, while Cody struggled with the awkwardly stacked pile of books he was attempting to carry. The two of them then took their usual seat about five rows back from the front as the long yellow vehicle resumed its journey to the boy's school.

So, so far the day had panned out quite normally. Same wake up call, same rush for the bus, and same seats. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. Or so Zack and Cody had both began to think before the bus driver pulled up at one more stop than usual. Which really only meant one thing…

"A new kid?" Zack pointed out un-necessarily.

The boy who stepped onto the bus was tallish, and was tan with dark hair. His left eye brow was pierced and he had a Nike backpack slung over his shoulder. He then made his way down the aisle in the centre of the bus, and eventually plonked himself down behind the twins. Now not to judge a book by it's cover or anything, but that's exactly what Zack chose to do, and was just about to turn his attention to Cody and tell him not to be the friendly person he was and say hi…

"Hiya! I'm Cody and this is my brother Zack."

…too late.

"I'm Riley."

_Wow_ Zack thought to himself, _and here I was thinking this kid was some kind of hard core lad, but he's already got one sentence out without biting Cody's head off._ "So Riley," he then said out loud, "what school are you from?"

"Belmont High. I had to leave though. Hopefully this school will be better for me."

"Well I'm sure you'll have no problems." Cody continued before his engrossment in Riley was then directed towards the floor and the pair of white rabens he was wearing. "As long as you change your shoes!"

"Excuse me?" Riley snapped at him.

"Oh nothing, it's just they're a safety hazard and the teachers will probably ask you to change them anyway and…"

"And!" Zack suddenly cut in. "It's really none of Cody's business right?"

"My thoughts exactly." Riley quickly agreed with Zack with a sort of half smirk aiming at Cody, who undoubtedly would have said something else if the bus hadn't come to a sudden jerk and stopped.

Zack let out a sigh of relief as Riley jumped out of his seat and stepped off the bus. He couldn't help but feel a bit weary around him. Perhaps it was just because of the way he looked, but one thing Zack knew for sure was that he was going to have to tell Cody to keep his distance. Cody, however, didn't seem to have a care in the world as he carefully balanced his pile of books while tip-toeing down the bus steps. He had just about made it too, until he walked passed his new buddy Riley, who stealthily stuck his leg out, tripping Cody and causing him and his text books to go flying. He gazed up at Riley who snarled at him, laughing. By now Zack had caught up to his brother, but like everyone else, hadn't seen what had really happened.

"You really do have no co-ordination do you?"

"Err, yeah. My bad." Cody said, sounded extremely daunted. He wiped a nervous sweat from his brow as Zack casually bent down to help him pick up all of his belongings. But his feelings of immediate intimidation and slight worry were abruptly interrupted by the bell ringing.

"Ahh crud." Zack suddenly exclaimed. "Sorry Cody, but I can't be late for home room again. You're alright to pick up this stuff aye?"

"That's alright Zack," came a jolted addition to conversation from Riley, "I'll help him pick everything up."

"Really?" Zack asked in confusion. He still hadn't exactly figured out why he didn't trust Riley, but making the simple offer couldn't have been that much of a bad thing. Could it? "Ok then, thanks man." He said, repaying the smile that Riley was shooting at him. "See ya' later Cody."

As soon as Zack had disappeared into the building, Riley turned back to Cody, the smile still wide (and kind of creepy) on his face. _Ok Cody_ he told himself, _just chill out. Maybe it was an accident._

"I knew it." Riley said, still laughing at Cody.

"Knew what?" Cody asked him in reply, gulping after the words left his lips.

"I knew you'd be the new Billy." Riley answered him, but leaving many open ends in doing so.

"Billy? Who's Billy?"

Riley's taunting proceeded at the obvious tone of fright in Cody's voice. "Billy is the reason I got kicked out of my old school."

Cody's eyes widened at all the different explanations that popped into his head after hearing that Riley had been _kicked out_ of Belmont High.

"I always thought that him and I had a good understanding of each other." He continued, "I'd tell him to give me something or do something for me and he'd do it. But one day, he decided to stand up to me. That's when I got angry."

A giant knot formed in the pit of Cody's stomach as these final words slipped out from under Riley's breath. His cold, harsh breath that was followed by another evil looking smile. "But I don't think we'll have that problem will we Cody?"

Cody instantly shook his head from where he kneeled on the ground as Riley increasingly maintained his height towering over him. "Good." He spat out clearly and bitterly. Cody's tense muscles slowly began to relax again at the sight of Riley turning around and heading towards the same building that Zack had entered.

"Oh and one more thing." He commenced again, this time sounding more conclusive. "I also _hate_ it when people think that they can go around telling everyone else that I'm such a 'bad guy'. So don't even think about getting Zack to swoop in and save you, got it?"

The closing statement shot like daggers off his tongue as all Cody did was continue to watch him, nodding every time he felt appropriate. But then Riley was well and truly gone. Well, for now anyway, leaving Cody with nothing but two things to think about; 1: Why had Riley chosen him as the new 'Billy'? And 2: What exactly was he planning for the next time their paths crossed?


	2. Bad Bruising

Cody stood at the front gates of his school impatiently waiting for Zack to arrive. The bell had rung about five minutes ago now, and their bus was about to take off any second. _What the heck is keeping him? _Cody thought.

"Maybe I should go see if I can find him." He then said out loud to himself as he walked around the corner back towards the main building of the school.

As he walked he was consumed with so many different thoughts. Mainly thoughts of hunger but besides from that, he was replaying what had happened between him and Riley at the beginning of the day over and over again in his head. Luckily, he hadn't seen or heard anything from the bully for the rest of the day. Presumably because he had been clinging to Zack like a koala since their first set of classes were over. Other than that, the only other possible explanation he could come up with was that Riley had just used the story of 'Billy' and the empty threat to try and scare him. That theory made Cody laugh to himself.

"Ha!" He barked, "That sounds just about right actually. Trying to act all tough, then nothing! How stupid does he think I am?"

"Hmm, well let me think. Is that something that Billy would've said?"

Cody froze where he was at the sound of the eerie voice that boomed from behind him. A cold shiver ran up his spine and a large lump formed in his throat. He told himself not to turn around, but he did anyway, though he wasn't exactly sure what made him do it; he knew full well who it was standing behind him.

"Hello Cody."

He gulped hard and gazed at Riley, not really sure what to say. Or whether he should say anything at all.

"Uh, hi Riley…" His voice seemed to diminish as his sentence trailed off.

"Watcha' doing? I mean, besides talking behind my back."

The same shiver made another couple of laps up and down Cody's back while Riley spoke the listless words. Cody's hands remained shoved in his pockets and his head drooped, his vision fixed onto the ground. "Come on Cody!" Riley suddenly blurted out, causing Cody's head to shoot up in shock. "What are you hiding in your pocket buddy?"

"Nothing." Cody replied instantly.

"Really?" Riley said smugly. "Then you won't mind me taking a look." Then before Cody got the chance to even blink, Riley grabbed his arm and ripped it out of his pocket. "What's this then?" He said with a smile as he stared longingly at the twenty dollar note that Cody held in his hand.

"It's mine and Zack's dinner money. Our Mum's working late tonight so she said we need to pick up something after…"

"Did I ask for your life story?!" Cody jumped at the harsh out burst from the bully.

"Well actually, you didn't ask me anything.."

"Ok, I'll ask now then!"

Cody began to quiver as the grip on his arm tightened.

"Give me the twenty bucks!"

"What?" Cody said shakily. "But… but Zack and I.."

"Zack isn't here!" The pain then became unbearable for Cody as the strength and pain that ran up his arm got about ten times more forceful. "Now give me the money!"

"Ok ok! Take it!"

Cody groaned in relief as soon as Riley let go of him. Riley on the other hand was happily folding the money and stuffing it into the depths of his pocket.

"See?" He began conceitedly while pushing Cody down onto the ground, "It wasn't that hard was it?"

Cody shook his head in reply, in the hope that nothing else bad was to come.

"Same time tomorrow then?"

_Tomorrow? _The word stuck out like a sore thumb in Cody's mind. His breathing got heavier as he finally brought up the courage to gawk up at the laughing giant that stood before him.

"Cya later Cody."

Cody winced at the throbbing pain that inhabited his wrist while Riley turned around and walked away with the twin's money, still laughing to himself.

His first real encounter with the bully was over, but now the only thing he could think of was what would happen tomorrow. That and one other thought; he wanted more than anything to tell Zack what had happened, and to hear him say that everything was going to be ok.

* * *

"Man I'm so hungry." Came a complaint from Zack after he slammed the fridge door.

"Yeah I know. I'm really sorry for losing the money."

Zack watched the expression on Cody's face drop as his voice lingered on with the tenth apology.

"I wouldn't be worrying about my reaction buddy. Mum's guna' kill you when she finds out you lost it."

Zack awaited a reply, but received nothing but the cold shoulder as Cody's attention seemed to be directed in other places.

"Dude, are you ok?"

Still nothing. Nothing but increasing worry on Zack's behalf anyway.

"Cody?"

Cody's head sprung up at the sound of Zack's voice, snapping him out of his trance.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said are you ok?"

Cody hesitated his answer for a moment, but then remembered the not-so-empty threat that Riley had made.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Zack frowned at Cody's answer. It wasn't exactly the most conclusive response that Cody could've given him, and he was also pretty sure that it wasn't the truthful answer either.

"Are you sure man?"

Cody sighed and reluctantly got up off the couch. "Yes, I'm positive. Really."

"Ok," Zack said to him, "if you're sure."

But Zack himself certainly wasn't sure. He _was_ sure that he had known Cody long enough to be able to tell when something was wrong. And now was one of those times.

"Where ya' going?" Zack then said, changing the subject while his wandering eyes followed Cody who was headed towards the bathroom.

"Where does it look like I'm going?" He said with a smile. A smile that Zack actually found convincing.

The smile remained on Cody's face as he entered the bathroom in their suite, but fell as soon as Zack could no longer see him. He sighed again and rubbed his arm. Glancing down at it his heart sank at the sight of the ugly bruise that stared back at him.

_Same time tomorrow then? _

"Tomorrow." He quietly said to himself as he choked back his tears. He stared in the mirror at the kid who gawped back at him. He looked sad and scared, and Cody didn't like it. Wiping away a tear that slowly made it's way down his face, he slid down against the door and sat on the ground. "Please, _please_ don't make tomorrow come."

* * *

**R&R ?? **

**Reney116 xo**


	3. The Basketball Bit

****

Sorry for the wait. I actually wote this chapter a few days ago, I just haven't been bothered to post it. Lol, lazy me. You'll get used to that :)

**I'm in the middle of chapter 4 now, so that might be up by tonght as well. If you're lucky.**

**R&R.**

* * *

_The sun slowly began to set over the horizon as Zack yawned while he lay in the surf. The sand and foam washed against his feet. It felt so soothing. He wasn't really sure where he was, but he didn't care._

"_Oh Zacky!"_

_Zack lifted his sunglasses from his face and rested them on his head before gazing up at the beauty that was walking towards him. It was Maddie, and man did she look hot._

"_I brought you a drink sweetie. To help you relax." She flashed a perfect white smile at him, leaning down and handing him his drink._

"_Thanks babe. Care to join me?"_

"_Yes! …I mean, if you insist."_

_Maddie dropped to the ground and lay next to Zack, curling up in his arms. Everything was absolutely perfect…_

"Mr. Martin!"

…too perfect.

Zack jumped awake with a fright to see his English teacher Mr. Armstrong standing over him frowning.

"Zack, you barely made it to this class, and I would much prefer that you tried to stay here rather than sleeping."

"Sorry sir."

Mr. Armstrong grunted at Zack, then turned around and walked back to the front of the class. Zack responded by pulling a face at his teacher, and then yawned again, this time in reality.

"Psst! Zack!"

Regained thoughts of Maddie on the beach in her bikini were suddenly interrupted by a 'psst' that Zack heard from beside him.

"What?!" He finally replied, glaring at Cody for disrupting his daydreams.

"Dude, you can't just fall asleep in class. You'll get a detention."

"Dude, since when did you care whether I get a detention or not?"

Cody bit his tongue at the question from Zack, trying to think of an excuse. "Um, well… you always, um… _complain_ about having to stay after school. Yeah, that's it!"

Zack watched Cody at his very strange attempt to answer what he thought was a simple enough question. "Uh-ha?"

"And, ya' know, I don't wana' have to listen to that all afternoon."

Cody concluded his explanation with a cheesy smile, hoping that Zack would believe what he had said.

"Ok? I'll keep that in mind." Well, he didn't sound too convinced, but at least he wasn't asking anymore questions.

Cody let out a sigh of relief. Not really because of the whole successful lie thing, but mainly because this meant that Zack would be there to stick up for him if Riley came near him again. And in a way, he sort of hoped that he did. That way Zack would be able to scare him off for good.

"Ok class," Mr. Armstrong began, "just before the bell rings I'll collect you essays."

"Essay?" Zack repeated, causing Cody's heart to skip a beat. That concerned tone in his brother's voice only meant one thing;

"You didn't do the essay did you Zack?" Mr. Armstrong asked him, though he was only really expecting one answer.

"Uhh, no sir."

Mr. Armstrong sighed then walked towards Zack and sat on the empty desk in front of his.

"Why is that not surprising?"

"I dunno. Maybe I should come up with something a little more unpredictable for next time aye?"

"Yes. Perhaps if you're planning a shock you could actually do the homework next time. And that way, you won't end up in detention after school like you will be today."

Cody's jaw dropped as his grand plan was snatched away from him almost as quickly as he had come up with it. He didn't even seem to notice that the bell started to ring. And of course, it just happened to be the last period of the day.

"Cody, can you take my basketball home for me? They won't let me bring it into detention."

Cody looked up at Zack and the smile that lay across his face.

"Smiling? At a detention?"

"What? You can't win em' all."

He then placed the ball down onto Cody's desk and left the room.

"Cya' at home."

_Yeah_ Cody thought to himself, _if I make it home._

* * *

Cody pushed through the crowd of people that were headed towards his bus. He basically sprinted out of his classroom aiming to get stuck in the mass of students. That way Riley wouldn't be able to get to him. Right?

"Cody!"

Cody's entire body stiffened up at the sound of the familiar voice behind him. Forgetting that he was in amongst a large bunch of people, after almost getting trampled, he was yanked from the group, and right into the presence of Riley.

"You weren't guna' leave without saying goodbye were ya'?"

Cody tried to gulp, but he was still kind of stiff, so all he did was stare.

"Hmm, I guess you were weren't you?"

The crowd was beginning to disperse now, so nobody was around to see what was going on. It was no different from yesterday. Except this time, Cody didn't plan on getting hurt.

"No, no! I'm sorry ok? I just needed to get home coz' I was late yesterday and my mum told me…"

"Wait a minute!" Riley snapped in the middle of Cody's rambles. "I thought you said that your mum was working late last night?"

There was total silence as Cody realised that he had been caught up in his own lie. And Riley did not look too happy about it.

"Uhh, no she wasn't, I mean yes but um… she.."

"Look, don't worry about it ok?"

Cody came to a sudden hault in his sentence as Riley's anger seemed to weaken before he had really said anything.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure thing buddy." This was said with a hard 'friendly' slap on Cody's back. He the thankfully guessed that was his cue to leave, so naturally, he attempted to do so.

"Whoa, hold up a minute!"

His so called freedom seemed to be quite short lived as Riley tugged on his shirt, pulling Cody back towards him.

"I haven't explained how you're guna' make it up to me yet."

That gulp that Cody tried before suddenly came back to him and worked. "What do you mean 'make it up to you'?"

Riley carefully studied the fear in Cody's expression. He loved the look. It was the same look that Billy used to give him all the time. His own expression then changed to one that he loved as well; the same look he had experienced when he stole Cody's twenty dollars the previous day.

"You know what? I'll make it easy for you. Give me the basketball and we'll call it even."

"What?"

Cody glanced down at his brother's ball in his arms.

"What do you mean 'what'? Give me the ball Cody!"

"But it's Zack's ball. It's his favourite."

"So?"

"So… I can't let you have it."

Cody immediately regretted the remark as soon as it left his mouth. Not only did it shock him, but it didn't exactly look like it was something Riley was expecting him to say either.

"Ok. Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to _take it from you_!"

Then, in the time frame that seemed to be about two seconds, Riley snatched Zack's ball from Cody's hands, then finished off by pushing him down again. Cody grabbed his elbow and rubbed it from where it had smacked onto the ground.

"Oh well Cody, maybe you'll learn someday."

And then, once again, Cody was left sitting alone own on the ground with a sore body part, and wanting Zack more than ever.

* * *

Zack burst through the door and the suite quicker than ever and raced to the bathroom.

"Oh man I reeeeeeally gotta'… Cody?"

Cody looked up from where he was dabbing his elbow with water at the basin to see Zack standing in the doorway.

"Dude, what happened?"

"Oh, nothing. I just fell over walking from the bus stop."

"Oh. Well, do you mind?"

Cody did nothing but stand there for a moment until he caught on to what Zack was implying.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry."

Zack snickered at Cody's oblivious nature. He'd been acting in that way quite a lot lately, but he wasn't sure whether it was something to worry about or not.

"It's ok, hey and afterwards we should go shoot some hoops or something."

The bathroom door then slammed shut, and all of Cody's memories of what had happened that afternoon and where Zack's basketball now was slammed back into his mind.

* * *

"What do you mean you lost it?!"

Zack was standing over Cody who was sitting on the couch. He was staring down at his shoes trying not to let the guilt of lying to Zack eat him alive.

"I'm sorry ok? I dropped it when I tripped and I guess it just rolled away…"

"You guess? Cody it was my favourite ball!"

"I know…"

Cody's head remained adjacent with the carpet as he let his words linger off and lose their meaning. It was thing to have Riley intimidating him 24/7, but he was seriously starting to wish that Zack would stop yelling too. He could be just as intimidating as well.

"First the money, now my basketball! What is up with you lately?"

"Nothing…" Cody wined again.

"See! That too. The life in your voice has disappeared like the life in everything else you do has. It's really… miserable."

"And what would you know anyway!?" Cody leapt up at Zack as the words flew out of his mouth. Just a reminder of the fact that he had become completely miserable was enough to set him off. But that wasn't the only new tendency he had picked up from his collisions with Riley.

"Forget about what I know!" Zack yelled back, getting closer to Cody, "I'll tell you what I think!"

He screamed the words directly in Cody's face, which caused him to flinch. Massively. Cody jumped right back, blocking his face. And Zack could hardly believe it.

"What are you doing?"

Cody slowly moved his hands away from his face. He saw Zack still standing there, but a lot further back.

"Um, nothing. I'm fine."

_Of course you're not fine! Tell him Cody, just tell him! _And he did want to tell him. He wanted to tell Zack that the only thing he saw when he was yelling at him was Riley. He wanted to confess everything. But he just couldn't bring himself to it.

"Don't tell me you thought I was guna' hit you."

Cody paused. The character in Zack's face has changed dramatically. He wasn't angry anymore, just confused. And it some ways, upset.

"Zack, I…"

"You did didn't you?"

The two of them stood there in silence for a moment as they tried to figure out what the other was thinking. But neither of them were having any luck. Especially Zack.

"Well," he began, "it's nice to see what my own brother thinks of me."

Zack then turned around and went to leave the room. He was really hurt by what he thought was Cody's assumption. Cody on the other hand was trying to think of something to say, anything, to prove to Zack that it wasn't his fault that he had gotten scared.

"Zack wait!"

"No Cody!" He bellowed back at him.

He looked his brother up and down as he stood in the suite still looking frightened. But sadly, he had a feeling that he had resorted to the point where he no longer cared.

"Look Cody," he began again, this time in a low toned voice, "I know that we're brothers and we get angry at each other sometimes, and we muck around and wrestle or whatever, but I thought you trusted me enough to know that I would never _seriously_ lay a hand on you."

"I do Zack.."

"Well obviously you don't!"

The harsh words that cut through Cody's sentence cut right through his heart at the same time. Of course he knew Zack well enough to know that he'd never hurt him, but admittedly he had no idea at all that he'd ever get this upset over something. Particularly something he'd done that was as stupid as this.

"So from now on," Zack continued, derailing Cody from his train of thought, "you're on your own."

Before another single word could be said, Zack hastily left the suite, which at the same time left Cody in his own.

_On my own? _The final words from Zack echoed through Cody's head. _But I need you more than ever…_


	4. The Smashed Head Bit

**Well here it is, chapter 4. It's really short but that's coz the only reason it's here is to get straight to the point and lead us into the next chapter. And for thise of you who have been waiting for the fight, its' finally here :) R&R.**

* * *

Normally, the incredibly 'interesting' poetry readings from his English teacher would excite Cody, but today his mind wasn't exactly in the same place it usually was. His concentration was aimlessly wandering between the Australian Banjo Patterson poetry, the afternoon he had to look forward to with Riley, and of course the fight that he had with Zack the day before. Zack, however, was actually concentrating for once. Oh but don't worry, his attentiveness didn't belong to the teacher, but to the random doodles he was drawing in his book. He always had been a good drawer, and Cody had admitted it to him numerous times.

After all these different discussions he was having with himself concluded, Cody figured that he should probably give Mr. Armstrong his attention again. He had already been in trouble once that day for turning up to home room late, but he had a good reason. What he thought was a good reason anyway. At least he had managed to escape the torments from Riley once on his own.

_So much for listening to sir. _Cody suddenly thought to himself as he continued through the cycle of all of his worries again.

"Very nice Zack." Mr. Armstrong blurted out mid-sentence.

Zack gazed up from his page to see his teacher admiring his drawings. But just he was admiring them didn't mean he approved of them.

"Thanks sir." He replied, sounding very unsure in what he was saying.

"Perhaps you could tell me and the rest of the class where Banjo Patterson was born?" His teacher then asked him, changing the subject.

"Uhh, Sweden?"

"Not quite. Australia." Mr. Armstrong corrected him. "But here's a question I'm sure you'll know the answer to; guess where you're going to be after school today?"

Zack sighed and rolled his eyes at Mr. Armstrong, well aware of what the right answer was this time.

"Detention?"

"You betcha'." His teacher said to him with a smile before returning to his reading.

Cody sat at the front of the class and quietly groaned to himself. Zack, the only person who he knew would stick his neck out for him, had ended up in detention again. Not that it really mattered he guessed, seeing as according to Zack he was 'on his own' now. But he was just sick of being victimised all the time. It was annoying, hurtful and to a certain extent; pathetic.

"Well not anymore." Cody softly said to himself. "I think it's about time that I stick up for myself."

* * *

Riley paced back and forth in the outer corner of the building as he waited for Cody to come by on his way to the bus bay. But luckily for him, he didn't have to wait too long.

"Good afternoon Cody."

All of Riley's expectations were suddenly crushed as Cody just kept walking toward the front gates of the school.

"I believe I'm talking to you!" He yelled out, ripping Cody around the corner and out of sight from everyone else.

"Hi Riley." He reluctantly let out.

"So," The bully commenced, "what have you got for me today?"

"Nothing." Cody immediately replied remaining tall and firm in how he looked and sounded.

"What?" Came an abrupt snap reply from Riley.

"I said I have nothing for you. I've gotta' get on my bus and go home."

Feeling very proud of himself, Cody then turned around and resumed marching out of the school. But little did he know, this simple change in attitude was not going to be enough to stop any bully. Especially not Riley.

"Hold up nerd!" he said insultingly, tearing Cody back into his grasp. "It is not going to be that easy for you!"

Cody then quickly began to realise that standing up for himself was not going to work out quite as well as he anticipated. Second of all he realised that the same feeling of fear had started to spew back into his brain.

"You might think that you can look after yourself, but I know you can't! So you can either apologise to me and give up anything valuable you have, or you can just stand there while I try and make this as painless as possible!"

The cold, vile words fell intentionally into Cody's head as he tried his absolute hardest to comprehend what to do. But at the end of the day, he felt like that he needed to prove to himself that he didn't need his big brother to be there to hold his hand. Big mistake.

"Do your worst."

Riley smirked, mostly in vain but partly in admiration towards Cody's bravery. But it didn't last long.

Cody gasped for breath as Riley punched him mercilessly in the stomach. His hunched body stared at the concrete trying to regain it's regular breathing pattern, but was interrupted by the sudden pain of being kicked in the face. Cody collapsed to the ground in a motionless heap. He could feel the blood begin to trickle from his head but was distracted by the continuous blows that Riley made kicking him in the side. His vision became very blurred, and he screamed with every gut wrenching jolt of pain that shot up from his waist to his brain.

"Say goodbye nerd."

Cody's eyes clapped shut as he prepared himself for what was going to come next. He wasn't sure what it was going to be, but he knew it was going to hurt. He felt his whole body tense up and his eyes remained wired shut, but nothing happened. Instead of wincing in pain, or yelling in fright, he jumped impulsively at the sound of another person's scream. A scream that sounded like it had come from Riley. This was then followed by a loud thud. Then nothing.

Cody tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't see. His vision had gotten about ten times worse, and everything was starting to turn black. Just before he unwillingly let himself pass out from all the pain and hurt, he heard a voice. A voice that was muffled from the condition that he imagined his head was in, but one that was clearly recognisable;

"If you ever touch my little brother again, _I'll kill you_."

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**Was it what you expected? I hope not, I'm quite sneaky like that :)**

**Still more to come, so tell me how I'm going, yes? (Y)**


	5. My Little Brother My Best Friend

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**Chapter 5. Yay. This is my fav chapter; the sweet and loving one. But don't worry, I'm not into that whole hooking the twins up thing. Ewh. It's just full of heaps of sweet shit that they should say to each other more often in the show.**

R&R.

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…_I'll kill you. If you ever touch my little brother again, I'll kill you. If you…_

The words continued to mimic themselves over and over again in Cody's head. The thought of his brother made him stir. All he wanted to do was wake up and see him again…

"Oh my gosh! He's waking up!"

Cody groaned at the bright lights that shone down on him from where he was lying. The next thing he saw was his mum. She looked like an angel under the white glow, but it was obvious that she had been crying.

"Mum?"

He managed to let the word escape his mouth, thought it came with a lot of difficulty.

"Oh sweetie, thank goodness you're ok!"

Carey wrapped her arms around her son. Cody could feel her heart beat next to his head as he rested against her chest and began to come to.

"What happened?"

"You've been sleeping for about an hour."

Cody looked up at the man in white that was standing above him and Carey that had interrupted the moment.

"Ms. Martin, it might be an idea to give your son some space. Just until the test results come back anyway."

"Test results?!" Cody spat out, this time a lot more clear.

"Oh baby it's nothing to worry about." Carey reassured him, releasing him from her grip. "This is Doctor Ryan. He's just been running you through a couple of small check-ups to make sure you're ok."

_Doctor? Check-ups? _Cody thought to himself.

"Yes Cody," Doctor Ryan began, as if he has answered the subconscious question. "we suspected that you gained a slight concussion from your accident, but we're pretty sure you're going to be completely fine. There's nothing to worry about."

Cody sighed in relief, but quickly retreated back to sadness. There was still one person missing from this scene.

"Where's Zack?" He quietly asked his mum. "I bet he's still way to angry to even be here.."

"Oh honey, don't be ridiculous. Of course Zack's here, he's been worried sick about you."

The smile regained it's original position on Cody's face while he gazed up at Carey wide eyed.

"Really?"

"Yes! He's been sitting outside waiting for the past hour. I told him that he could go home if he wanted to and I'd call him, but he said that he wasn't going anywhere until you were awake and he knew you were going to be ok."

Carey beamed at the blissful look that lay across Cody' face. "I can go get him for you if you want?"

Within a split second Cody was nodding his head and grinning a million times more at the sight of his mum leaving the room, and then his brother walking in.

"Hey buddy."

The contagious smile definately seemed to catch on as Zack's face brightened when he saw Cody sitting up in the bed. But there was something that still didn't feel quite right to Cody. Why did Zack sound so nervous?

"I'll leave you guys to talk." Doctor Ryan cut in as he and Carey withdrew themselves from Cody's room.

Zack was standing a fair way back at first, but slowly began to move closer towards his brother. He cringed at the cuts and bruises that made up Cody's face, but decided that he'd better say something.

"How ya' feeling?"

"Ok I guess." Cody murmured, answering in a pretty transparent way to the pointless question.

"Well," Zack started again, after realising how stupid the question had been, "I've got something that'll make you feel better."

He then lifted his arms up over his head from behind his back, revealing the bright orange basketball that Cody had 'lost'.

"Ta dah!"

"You got it ba… I mean, you found it?"

Zack bounced his ball a couple of times before he fixed his vision back on Cody, frowning.

"Don't give me that, I know Riley took it from you."

"Ohh.." Cody replied discreetly. He guessed that also meant that Zack had been filled in on everything else that had gone on between him and Riley in the past couple of days. "So.." he restarted cautiously, "what happened to Riley?"

Zack laughed to himself before giving his attention back to Cody. "Umm, he's at school in the nurse's office getting his head stitched up."

Cody's jaw dropped as soon as Zack finished his sentence.

"What did you do to him?"

Zack hesitated for a bit as he decided how he was going to tell Cody what happened when he was blacking out, but he was silently side tracked as he remembered how he had felt when he saw his brother lying on the cold ground, his head bleeding. He clenched his fists in his pockets, then lifted his head up and looked straight into Cody's eyes.

"I rammed his head into the brick wall."

The anger at the memory flickered in Zack's eyes. Cody pictured in his mind what the incident may have looked like, but he just couldn't see his brother ever lashing out at anybody like that.

"And you'd better be happy about it." Zack added, distracting Cody from his imagination. "I got a month of detention."

"For sticking up for me?"

"Nah."

He smiled at the immediate guilt that interpreted itself in Cody's voice, and then sat on the bed and inched closer to him. "It was for breaking out of the detention I was already in to come and help you."

"But, how'd you know to come get me?" Cody asked him, sounding extremely confused.

Zack tried to decipher what his answer to this question was going to be, but when he really strained himself about it, he couldn't exactly bring himself to come up with one.

"I just knew."

Neither twin found this to be a great explanation, but it was good enough for them to know that no-one else could possibly understand what it meant.

Cody assumed it was similar to the time when him and Zack were about seven. One minute he was just sitting in the lounge room watching TV, then the next minute he unintentionally raced into his bedroom to find that Zack had fallen off his bed. One of those weird things that happened between twins.

"Thanks Zack. I don't know what would've happened if you didn't…" Cody's sentence and voice both trailed off at the horrible images that suddenly rushed into his head. He tried to not to think about what could've happened to him if Zack didn't stop Riley, but he couldn't help it. Tears reluctantly started to well up in his eyes, but he couldn't let Zack know that.

"Don't even mention it. Nobody picks on my little brother except me."

Zack smirked and awaited a reply form Cody, but when he didn't get one he lifted up his brother's head revealing his tears.

"Whoa, hey Cody, it's ok. He's not going to hurt you again. Trust me, he knows what will happen if he does."

"It's not that…" Cody wined through quiet sobs.

He looked so broken. Zack couldn't remember the last time he had seen Cody this upset, and it struck him so hard to be seeing it now.

"What is it then?"

"I'm just really sorry I didn't trust you enough to tell you earlier what was going on. None of this ever would have happened if I hadn't been so scared."

Zack felt his heart rip in two to be on the receiving end of what some worthless bully had done to his little brother. "Cody, this is not your fault!" He let out in an outburst of anger. "I'm the one who should be apologising."

Cody wiped his eyes and glanced up at Zack as his voice began to soften.

"I'm the one who got angry at you, and that's why you felt like you couldn't trust me. I didn't even give you the chance."

There was silence as Cody continued to listen attentively to what his big brother was saying to him.

"I helped you because I wanted to."

"Because you needed to you mean." Cody said sounding almost ashamed of himself. That's when everything suddenly made sense in Zack's mind.

"So that's why your upset." He said, "Look, no matter what anyone else says, there is nothing wrong with us admitting that we need each other."

"What could you possibly need me for?"

Zack rolled his eyes at yet another comment from Cody which only put himself down. As far as Zack was concerned, putting Cody down was his job.

"Well who else would I have to pick on if you weren't around?"

Thinking the joke would be enough to break the ice obviously didn't work, as Cody remained staring down at the sheets, wiping away tears every now and again. Zack sighed at the sad individual that had taken over Cody's body, and then opened his mouth to speak again.

"But more importantly.. I need your friendship."

Cody then stopped fidgeting with the sheets and looked up at Zack. "Really?"

"Of course!"

Now, Cody knew full well that his brother wasn't into all this affectionate stuff that they seemed to be saying to each other, but unfortunately for Zack, it was really beginning to show that it was the only thing getting through to Cody.

"Dude, you're my little brother; my best friend! I don't know what I'd without your friendship."

As nice as it was to hear this stuff every once in a while, Cody couldn't seem to drag himself to get used to it. _He's just saying that to make me feel better. _

"And I know we fight sometimes…"

Zack prepared himself for the next words that he planned to release from his mouth. If Cody thought that he was showing affection before, it was about to be taken to a whole new level.

"…but when it comes down to it, you're my brother. And I love you."

_Then again…_

Cody gazed at his brother in disbelief. Fifteen years. He and Zack had known each other for fifteen years and he had never said anything like that to him before. But that didn't mean that he disagreed.

"I love you too."

Both of them had no idea how things got this deep and meaningful, but they decided to just roll with it.

"But if you ever tell anyone about this conversation, you'll wind up back in this hospital, understand?"

"Point taken."

Well so much for that sweet moment, but at least Cody wasn't crying anymore, which not only brought the life in him back, but the life in Zack as well.

"And if anyone ever hurts you like that again, come and tell me. Promise?"

Cody nodded his head. Zack looked so serious, like he was ready to take on the whole world to look after his brother if he had to.

"I promise."

"Good. Now gimme' a hug."

Cody wasn't going to argue with that. As he and Zack met in each other's arms he felt him squeeze him so tightly. But it was comforting, the kind of comfort he was longing for when Riley was being the prick that he was.

Zack however didn't exactly feel the same way that Cody was at that moment. Sure the similar feeling of comfort was there, but whether he was willing to admit it or not, the emotion that had taken over his body and mind more than anything was fear. Fear that somebody would hurt his baby brother like this again; if not worse.

Just before the two of them parted, Zack whispered in Cody's ear;

"Your protection matters so much more than what mine does. You're the most important thing in my world."


	6. One Final Secret

"You should've seen it Zack!"

Cody collapsed onto the couch as Zack shut the door to the suite behind them.

It was Cody's first day back at school after resting up in the hospital for a couple of days, and he had told Zack and Carey that he wasn't going to end up back in there. Not because of Riley anyway.

"I was standing outside the classroom and he just seemed to come out of nowhere!" He continued with his story, "He looked so mad, but I just did what you said and didn't run off or anything."

Zack listened attentively while Cody recounted his first post-encounter with Riley, who now looked about ten times scarier with the four stitches that ran across his forehead, no thanks to Zack.

"So what did he do?"

"He started walking towards me, which I gotta' admit freaked me out, but I just glared him down and didn't move. Guess what happened?"

A smile grew across Zack's face at the toddler like excitement that filled Cody's voice. "What happened?"

"He stopped dead in his tracks! He looked really scared, then he ran off in the other direction!"

The regained memory of the look that had appeared on Riley's face made Cody laugh, which encouraged Zack join in just as enthusiastically. He then sat down next to Cody and placed a hand over his shoulder, beaming at him.

"I'm proud of you Cody."

"Thanks." He replied, "I just wish you could've seen it."

"Yeah. Me too."

But little did Cody know, Zack had seen it. Well, not seen it as much as he had _caused_ it. At least Riley ran off after Zack appeared behind Cody giving the bully an evil 'remember the warning I gave you' death stare.

So Zack was still helping Cody a little bit without telling him. He just saw it as a confidence boost - it was going to help in the long run. Besides, it's just like he said; nobody picked on his little brother except for him.

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**Finished! -happy face-**

**What did ya' think ?**

**I like it :) But that may be a bit of a biased comment. lol. **

**Thanks for reading :] Reney116 xo**


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